DPP appeal allowed after C.C. and M.F.’s directed acquittals

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

The Court of Appeal allowed the DPP’s appeal concerning C.C. and M.F. on 14 June 2016. Mr. Justice Birmingham delivered the judgment.

The respondents had previously been convicted in 2009, when C.C. received a 12-year prison sentence and M.F. received a 25-year prison sentence. In April 2012, the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed their convictions following a Supreme Court decision declaring unconstitutional the statutory provision under which investigation warrants had been issued.

In January 2015, they stood trial before Her Honour Judge Mary Ellen Ring at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on one count of robbery and four counts of false imprisonment.

A hearing on the admissibility of telephone evidence began on 19 January 2015. The judge excluded the evidence on 21 January 2015, and the jury was directed to acquit both respondents the following day.

The DPP sought a declaration that compelling evidence had been wrongly excluded, orders quashing the acquittals and a retrial on all charges.

The prosecution case depended significantly on telephone evidence, including call records and cell-site analysis intended to establish where calls were made. The respondents argued that rerouted or redirected calls could make conclusions about their locations unreliable.

The court held that the evidence had been wrongly excluded and, having regard to earlier trial outcomes, was compelling. It would hear further arguments about the orders to follow, including whether a retrial was appropriate.